Page 109 of Unbelonging
I turned to glare at him. "It's not funny!"
"You're right," he said. "Look, I'm not threatening you. Lawton's right. You want to report him, you have every right. If you were my sister –"
"You'd have me report it?" I said.
"Fuck no," he said. "I'd beat Lawton's ass until he was sorrier than any law enforcement could make him."
"Do it now," Lawton said. He turned to me. "Baby, would it make you feel better if he beat the crap out of me?"
"Definitely," I said.
Chapter 60
Lawton held up his hands. He turned to Bishop. "Come on. Do it. Beat the shit out of me. I won't even hit you back."
"Oh, for fuck's sake," Bishop muttered.
"I mean it," Lawton said.
"But as it is," Bishop continued as if Lawton hadn't spoken at all, "he's my brother. And I hope –" At this, he turned to give Lawton a long, meaningful look "– that once you hear why he acted like such an ass, you'll get why he lost it so bad."
"Lost it?" I said, rubbing my sore wrists. "Is that what you're calling it?"
"Oh baby," Lawton said, kneeling in front of me to reach for my hands, "You've gotta believe me. I don't know what happened."
"Yeah, well I do." I yanked my hands away. "Now, will one of you dickheads get my clothes so I can get out of here?"
While Bishop went to retrieve my clothes, Lawton kept apologizing. But honestly, at this point, I was barely listening.
Aside from the trouble with him, I'd probably just lost my waitressing job for good. If I were smart, I'd demand money out of him, at least enough to cover what I'd lost tonight. If I were even smarter, I'd demand enough to cover my expenses for the next month, until I found another job. Any job.
But I guess I wasn't smart. Or maybe I was just too proud. Just like Grandma. Too bad I wasn't more like my Mom. She'd squeeze him but good.
When Bishop returned with my clothes, and then melted away to wherever, I made Lawton turn his back while I got dressed. He'd gotten his last look of me, if I had anything to say about it.
I should've known better. The guy was a psycho. But then again, I guess I knew that going in, hadn't I? What exactly had I expected?
I was crouched down, lacing up my tennis shoes, when he said something that made me falter.
"Chloe, please," he said, his voice ragged, and his eyes glistening. "Don't go. Not like this. I love you. You know I do. Stay, please?"
"And what if I don't? What are you gonna do? Handcuff me again?"
"You've gotta understand – "
"No," I cut him off. "I don'thaveto understand anything. You didn't need to keep me here. If you wanted to know anything, about any of that stuff, or whatever, all you had to do was ask."
He swallowed. "Baby," he said, "I did ask. You never answered. I'm sorry, but –" He pushed a hand through his hair. "Look, I know I fucked up. Majorly fucked up. But I guess it just all made me kind of crazy. I mean, I'd fallen so hard for you, and when I thought you were just using me like –" He shook his head and looked away.
"Like what?" I said.
"Like who," he corrected.
"Okay, then who? Brittney?"
"No," he said. "Someone else."
"Who?" I demanded.
